So often you see the interaction between the bowler and the bastmans in a game of cricket after a wonderful delivery or whenever there is a Polaroid momnet on the pitch. You see smiles all around. Nice to see those players often share a smile with their oponents.

Media probably don't cover this aspect of the game as much but bullying in a cricket match does happen. A common trait of Australians is to verbally bully their opponents whether they are batting or bowling.

I understand there is a fair bit of rivalry whenever Aussies play England. Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting and few other players were verbally taunting few of the English players during the last Ashes series both in England and in Australia. Shane Warne was calling Ian Bell "The sherminator" (American Pie) and all sorts. Eventually he got out. I am sure he was trying to teach the big bullys a lesson and failed. Australi's dirty tactics worked once again.

Worldcup 2007. Aus v SA. Near the end of SA innings Aussie bowlers were at it again. All SA batsman was saying, "Bring it one mate, bring it on!"

BD v IND - Patel was exchanging words with Tamim. We have no idea what was going on I am sure Patel was trying to mentally effect Tamim's performance. Fortunately for us Tamim replied like a true tiger. Harbajan Singh was even trying trip Saqib when he was trying to run between the wickets.

I just think this sort of unprofessional attitude mentally somehow effects the batsmans when they are so focused to play a good innings. Mind you, this happens right infront of Umpire's nose. Players don't complain about and the authorities take it lightly. Even though it's good for viewers I think players should play their innings uneffected and entertain us.

Some might not recognise this as bullying but bullying in any shape or form should be eradicated from everywhere.

I guess i am the only one who thinks it this way.

akabir77

April 28, 2007, 11:05 AM

man this is regular and used often in cricket.

this is a way to put pressure on batters.

damalChele

April 28, 2007, 11:13 AM

So you can't disagree with umpire's decision or or else you lose your wages to them yet you can verbally taunt your opponents and effect their game??

Nafis_BD

April 28, 2007, 12:27 PM

I think that this shouldn't be allowed in International Cricket!!!I have faced these kind of stuff before too in my academy and it is distracting and etc and I really think that players should complain about it to the officials and they should take this matter seriously!!!!

Kabir

April 28, 2007, 01:17 PM

I don't care about the other cases, but I really hated it when Harbhajan was trying to stop the batsman from taking a run by holding his leg. And the spineless umpire was just looking and laughing at it. Shameless.

MohammedC

April 28, 2007, 02:27 PM

Australian's are good at it. Their player are tought how to do it from earliest time in their career.

Sandwich

April 28, 2007, 06:21 PM

a true proffesional can ignore it.

SA are the worst for being put off their game by sledging

Arnab

April 28, 2007, 06:56 PM

I don't care about the other cases, but I really hated it when Harbhajan was trying to stop the batsman from taking a run by holding his leg. And the spineless umpire was just looking and laughing at it. Shameless.

That was a mock effort. It was funny.

damalChele

April 28, 2007, 07:05 PM

Australian's are good at it. Their player are tought how to do it from earliest time in their career.

Without being racist (and I hope I don't offend any Aussies)..it's in their DNA :p

Kabir

April 28, 2007, 09:08 PM

That was a mock effort. It was funny.

May be to you and a few others. But to me, it was a genuine cheap shot.

akabir77

April 28, 2007, 10:23 PM

Without being racist (and I hope I don't offend any Aussies)..it's in their DNA :p

It is in every pro cricket team's DNA. you should have heard what BD players said when they played zimbo, scotts or some other weaker teams.

Its also part of the game.

Slogger

April 29, 2007, 04:53 AM

It is in every pro cricket team's DNA. you should have heard what BD players said when they played zimbo, scotts or some other weaker teams.

Its also part of the game.

What were they saying? Im intrigued now.

cricfanz

April 29, 2007, 05:46 AM

weak teams only? I heard Mushy repeatedly talking about felling the No1s when SA was batting (even before any wickets fell)...

Its not unprofessional in any way, in my opinion. I agree, any real professional will know how to ignore the taunts and stay calm...

If the sledges get really personal (I remember some news a few years back about some batsman trying to sledge McGrath about his sick wife, who was suffering from cancer), or racist for that matter, it gets below the belt and at that point, its plain disgusting and worthy of censure...But friendly(or hostile) banter is harmless...

Besides as far as I know, the players are always welcome to ask the umpires to step in and ask the opponents to tone it down, as I've seen in many cases..

James90

April 29, 2007, 06:41 AM

I think that this shouldn't be allowed in International Cricket!!!I have faced these kind of stuff before too in my academy and it is distracting and etc and I really think that players should complain about it to the officials and they should take this matter seriously!!!!
Weak as piss. Mental disintegration is part of the game. So long as it's not racist or overly personal I don't have a problem with it.

Tintin

April 29, 2007, 07:49 AM

If the sledges get really personal (I remember some news a few years back about some batsman trying to sledge McGrath about his sick wife, who was suffering from cancer), or racist for that matter, it gets below the belt and at that point, its plain disgusting and worthy of censure...But friendly(or hostile) banter is harmless...

What I found very interesting about the McGrath incident was the argument from many sides to the effect that it is alright to sledge that way if your wife is healthy but it is beyond the bounds if your wife is sick.

Sovik

April 29, 2007, 08:30 AM

What I found very interesting about the McGrath incident was the argument from many sides to the effect that it is alright to sledge that way if your wife is healthy but it is beyond the bounds if your wife is sick.

i think Sarwan was involved in that incident but it was McGrath who started that.

Sovik

April 29, 2007, 08:33 AM

I don't care about the other cases, but I really hated it when Harbhajan was trying to stop the batsman from taking a run by holding his leg. And the spineless umpire was just looking and laughing at it. Shameless.

sakib should have stumped on his sorry hand.

but that was funny. it was like a heart broken girlfriend, on her knees begging him not to leave her

BangladeshFan

April 29, 2007, 09:21 AM

cricket is an intense game and the competition is directly between the batsman and the bowler. i guess it is ok, if the bowler passes a comment every now and then, the batsmen usually dont mind. it is part of the game as it is a physical and intense sport, not a video game. But the umpires need to step in if it crosses the limit.

Arnab

April 29, 2007, 10:33 AM

May be to you and a few others. But to me, it was a genuine cheap shot.

Nah, I thought it just showed the desperation on Harbhajan's part. When someone does that, you know he's already lost mentally.

damalChele

April 29, 2007, 11:43 AM

Watch this clip and tell me this is not bullying in it's purest form. Mark Boucher targeting on a low order batsman of Zimbawe. This is absolutely one of the most disgusting incident I have seen in cricket. Look at the expression on the young batsman face. He is more terrified of Mark Boucher's next comment than the ball itself. It's like a clip straight from some Hollywood movie where the some big boys picking on some guy and tearing him apart. Unbelievable! Mofo's like Marck Boucher should be reported.

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SA is a great team with many great players. They didn't have to engage in this sort of ugliness to win a game against a lesser opponent. I can imgine our young tigers facing this kind verbal abuse in the the future as they get better and better. I would advise them to put the bat on the ground, steady yourself and then launch a bruce-lee kick in between the legs of whoever attempts to unsettle them.

Sovik

April 29, 2007, 12:05 PM

he wasn't tail ender man, thats taibu. zimbabwean captain.

damalChele

April 29, 2007, 12:25 PM

fair enough. I don't know most of the ZW players. But you are missing the point.

Kabir

April 29, 2007, 01:00 PM

fair enough. I don't know most of the ZW players. But you are missing the point.

That was kinda ugly...never liked Mark Boucher, but now I actually have him after seeing this. Great find though.

nzfan

April 29, 2007, 04:04 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1NFbVx0uN8

Farhad

April 29, 2007, 04:25 PM

Boucher is a freakin [edit]

Sovik

April 29, 2007, 06:16 PM

there are many incidents, some are funny and some are ugly. unfortunately they all are parts of the game now

Hatebreed

April 29, 2007, 07:03 PM

I think if there too much unnecessary talking in the field then the umpires should warn those players right away. If it persists, they should be fined and even banned for a game or two. Light sledging is fine, it spices things up between rival teams. But doing constantly to distract or intimidate players is not very sportsmanlike and should be discouraged by ICC.

MohammedC

April 29, 2007, 07:14 PM

I am sure you guys heard Kumar Sangakara yelling behind the stumps when BD plays
Srilanka in a odi "Test match cricket boys". Obviously he knows our boys were having difficulty playing Murali or Vaas, So he would keep saying it until some one looses his cool and goes for the big shot.................and you know what he is just been stumped or caught

Farhad

April 29, 2007, 11:03 PM

Boucher is a freakin [edit]

Why the edit?:-/ The word I used (Dare I say it?) means - and Im quoting here - "An individual with an overinflated sense of worth". All this editing is really getting out of hand, next we'll be editing the word "Idiot". Or is that already being done? If it is, then :sorry: for that as well

AsifTheManRahman

April 30, 2007, 12:15 AM

Can't take a poke while you're batting? Sledging's part of the game, and you gotta be mentally tough in all kinds of sports. You will probably be having a beer with the same dude in the evening anyways.

This is also where players from the subcontinent fall behind the others - they lack the kind of wit required to stand up to sledging. The funniest occurrence was when the Australian women were getting verbal on the Indian women, and later the Indian captain told the media about how the Aussies were being "rude and mean". Such a cry baby.

layperson

April 30, 2007, 12:22 AM

Can't take a poke while you're batting? Sledging's part of the game, and you gotta be mentally tough in all kinds of sports. You will probably be having a beer with the same dude in the evening anyways.

This is also where players from the subcontinent fall behind the others - they lack the kind of wit required to stand up to sledging. The funniest occurrence was when the Australian women were getting verbal on the Indian women, and later the Indian captain told the media about how the Aussies were being "rude and mean". Such a cry baby.

Completely agree. Sledging is part of the game now. You have to be tough to compete in the world today. If someone dishes out garbage at you make sure you have the guts to stand up and throw it back at them. Its all part of the game as long as sledging doesnt lead to fist fights I am ok with it. Hell even we sledged when we played cricket. Our sledging was also very very wittty and effective. Man those were days.

Btw ATMR, you said we used to play during games period our section vs your section. Did you guys get sledged by us karon I remember by class 8 we were actually pretty good at sledging the opposition. :)

AsifTheManRahman

April 30, 2007, 01:11 AM

i would think there would be a fair bit of sledging going on. i don't remember much though. most of the time, the games teachers would intervene, so sledgers wouldn't have had much luck anyways.

Hahahahah yeah just remembered Arif sir. Some famous quotes from the horses mouth:

1. Phibe isshtep back
2. Make a line banao.

LMAO :floor: :floor:

damalChele

April 30, 2007, 03:52 PM

Can't take a poke while you're batting? Sledging's part of the game, and you gotta be mentally tough in all kinds of sports. You will probably be having a beer with the same dude in the evening anyways.

This is also where players from the subcontinent fall behind the others - they lack the kind of wit required to stand up to sledging. The funniest occurrence was when the Australian women were getting verbal on the Indian women, and later the Indian captain told the media about how the Aussies were being "rude and mean". Such a cry baby.

A poke or two here and there from the bowler may be acceptable depending on the circumstances. It’s understandable when the bowler is frustrated especially fast bowlers. All those long run up and sweat in 30 degree heat only to see your bowl outside of the stadium. Exchanging dirty glances might spice up the contest but constant taunting from around and/or behind the wickets is an act of cowardliness. It’s sad and pathetic.

Since when did cricket become the battle ground of Mental Stamina between two teams? You have to be mentally prepared to cope with pressure in any sports but not to avoid being the victim of bullying.

Some of these players who sledge are roll models for young kids. Personally I find distasteful to watch them taunt and intimidate their opponents. If you are good enough you can win the match fair and square regardless. You dont have to resort to being some nasty f***k. And there I thought cricket is a game of gentle men.

OZGOD

April 30, 2007, 10:08 PM

Can't take a poke while you're batting? Sledging's part of the game, and you gotta be mentally tough in all kinds of sports. You will probably be having a beer with the same dude in the evening anyways.

This is also where players from the subcontinent fall behind the others - they lack the kind of wit required to stand up to sledging. The funniest occurrence was when the Australian women were getting verbal on the Indian women, and later the Indian captain told the media about how the Aussies were being "rude and mean". Such a cry baby.

This must be a cultural thing, to find sledging offensive. I didn't want to mention it until you mentioned it, Asif, but I've noticed it tends to be more upsetting to people from the subcontinent than it is to people from the UK, SA or NZ (or even the WI, where they're pretty used to trash talk). It must be tied up in the concept of respect and all that.

I personally don't mind being sledged, or sledging, as long as it's all a bit of fun and isn't personal. Things might get said in the heat of the moment. I've been sledged pretty badly both in district cricket in OZ, as well as playing rugby (where the sledging is heaps worse). As long as it's not personal, and as long as you can shake hands and have a beer at the end of the game I don't really see it as a problem. Obviously when the sledging gets to the level of personal abuse, or if there's genuine anger behind it, it's not on, but a bit of friendly banter is fine - we all engage in that when we play backyard cricket with our mates and we'll all still friends at the end of it. It's part of being mentally strong, to be able to ignore it. That said, I do have a pretty thick skin and am not easily offended by words - as they say, sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me. :)

Also, some players thrive on it - Brian Lara used to try and provoke the fielders into sledging him when he came to the crease, because it would get him fired up. The OZ quickly learned not to sledge Lara, because that's what he wanted them to do. Sehwag is another who enjoys being sledged, as is Shahid Afridi.

On another note, it's funny how the OZ always get called out for being unsportsmanlike and ungentlemanly for the words they say on the field, yet nobody ever called the West Indian quicks unsportsmanlike even when they subjected tailenders to an unending barrage of bouncers in the 70 and 80s, or when Waqar Younis bowled two beamers at Andrew Symonds at WC 2003. It's just my opinion, but I feel there's a bit of hypocrisy here. :)

Kabir

April 30, 2007, 11:27 PM

Well yes, it's an art. But at the same time, you gotta agree that too much poking isn't fair. I would take a few comments easily, but not when it crosses a certain limit.

Anyway, here's something for you to watch from an Aussie tv programme. Funny how they appreciate Gavaskar here, but they do agree that sledging should have its own limits.

OZGOD: this isn't to point at Aussie team bro, it's just the media ppl's comments :)

A poke or two here and there from the bowler may be acceptable depending on the circumstances. It’s understandable when the bowler is frustrated especially fast bowlers. All those long run up and sweat in 30 degree heat only to see your bowl outside of the stadium. Exchanging dirty glances might spice up the contest but constant taunting from around and/or behind the wickets is an act of cowardliness. It’s sad and pathetic.

Since when did cricket become the battle ground of Mental Stamina between two teams? You have to be mentally prepared to cope with pressure in any sports but not to avoid being the victim of bullying.

Some of these players who sledge are roll models for young kids. Personally I find distasteful to watch them taunt and intimidate their opponents. If you are good enough you can win the match fair and square regardless. You dont have to resort to being some nasty f***k. And there I thought cricket is a game of gentle men.

i see what you're saying about these people being role models, but then again, what makes you think an average Tom or Dick or Harry wouldn't resort to sledging albeit growing up in a perfect world? :)

besides, if taunting is all that is needed to get someone out, then that someone probably doesn't deserve to play cricket at the top level. what is sad and pathetic is someone losing his head and playing a rash shot as a result of a few taunts and verbal attacks. if your opponent expects you to crumble under their words, then just hit back at them with your own words and shut them up, or don't listen to them and keep on playing your game.

saying that cricket is a gentleman's game is synonymous to being in the 1800's. come on, it's just a sport, like any other. you don't have british zamidars playing the game as a hobby anymore. it's what it is - a sport, like any other. i'm sure a lot of people would rather not have cricket as a gentleman's game, because then it would really take a lot of the fun off it. you would have people coming in in their best clothes, reading a newspaper and lazily clapping after every boundary from the stands, a lot like they do at Lord's, and other venues in England.

edit: besides, officials do intervene when things get out of hand, so i don't see why we should have a problem with taunting and words being exchanged when the people in charge don't.

damalChele

May 1, 2007, 04:45 PM

Asif Bhai sometimes it really gets out of hand. Players take it too far as someone mentioned earlier. Glenn McGrath was being sledged about his sick wife. Thats sick. How can you not react to something like this? Hard to ignore and play your game. On the other hand, reacting to such taunt would mean that you bring yourself down to their level. My question is why should there be such taunts in the first place? This sledging even leads to racism when the whole world is trying to kick racism out of football and all the other sports. Thats a real shame for the cricket lovers.

I found this click..very sad!
Gibbs and Clarke are well known racist. I only discovered it recently.

It's a sport like any other but I dont hear much about sledging in other sports apart from rugby and football where appropriate actions are there. Fans get banned from stadium, players get fined and banned for being racist and so on. In cricket however muppet umpires tend to ignore it. Authorities don't do much because they are probably thinking of the financial aspects.

AsifTheManRahman

May 1, 2007, 06:02 PM

well, to be brutally honest, the pakistani crowd weren't behaving either in that gibbs incident. not that it makes it legal for gibbs to make those comments, but if we want to eliminate racism from cricket, then maybe fans should take on some of the responsibilities as well. khali playerderke dosh diye to labh nai, karon ek haate to r tali baje na.

but yes, gibbs was punished for that incident, so there <i><b>is</b></i> a system in place to penalize those guilty of crossing the limit.

Hatebreed

May 1, 2007, 07:23 PM

What Gibbs did wasn't right, but he did the right thing by not calling them Pakis or anything racist like that, which would have really tarnished his image.

vegeta08

May 2, 2007, 10:13 PM

the point of doin this is to put the batsmen off and sometimes it back fires . cricket is a game for the mentally tough guys, wu shuld b so concentrated that it shuld not effect them! its all in the game if u let it get to u then u shouldnt b playing. take kevin pieterson! they give him a hard time everytime he gets out there! wat does he do?? he goes out there and proves a point! also kallis! hes like a mental brick! sledging mainly effects the lower order batsmen because they arent as focused as the top porder

cricket_king

May 3, 2007, 12:30 AM

Sledging should really be banned. You should not be allowed to exchange any words with your opposition during a match unless it's for obvious reasons.

uss01

May 3, 2007, 11:50 AM

I have a feeling that Munaf Patel might have said something racist to Tamim, I dunno, what you guys think? I hope I am wrong, but it just seemed like he said something racist or poked fun of Bangladeshis or Bengalis. Because he was going on and on and on, pretty much yelling at Tamim. It was very arrogant.

billah

May 3, 2007, 01:45 PM

Here's the summary of ICC rule on bullying:

"Countries allowed to do whatever the hell they want on the field:
Australia
England
South Africa

If you are curious about the status of your country's rights to unsportsman like behavior on and off the field, check with the above list. If your country name does not appear on the list, most likely you are not allowed.

The End."

OZGOD

May 3, 2007, 02:29 PM

Here's the summary of ICC rule on bullying:

"Countries allowed to do whatever the hell they want on the field:
Australia
England
South Africa

If you are curious about the status of your country's rights to unsportsman like behavior on and off the field, check with the above list. If your country name does not appear on the list, most likely you are not allowed.

The End."

You forgot to put an addendum: *if the sledging is done in a language other than English (eg. Hindi, Urdu, etc) then nobody even bothers to report it...

RazabQ

May 3, 2007, 03:05 PM

Ozfan, yes south asian culture does put more of a premium on respecting elders I suppose. I know that in matches where I play I wouldn't sledge someone who's not near my age group or someone who was really young (unless he starts it).

Having said that, I'm ok with witty comments here and there, but what Boucher was doing - that's for me is cowardly. Especially when you've got close in fielders to create a claustrophobic atmosphere.

Some of my favorites (ones I've come up with):

"Umpire please tell maradona, we play this game with the bat and not the legs" to a guy who'd been padding up all morning.
"Captain, should I give him [batter] a quarter so he can buy a clue" to a dude who'd played and missed 2 overs in a row.
"Damn guys, I can smell yer breakfast - rotten eggs were apparently involved" - to close-in fielders who were trying to hustle up a hattrick for their bowler.
"yo barishnokov, you wanna play or what?" to a guy who'd been consistently backing away ....